What did you make your first year? / Any Advice?
Posted by AgreeableClass5390@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 27 comments
Hello, going to CDL school and hopefully getting my CDL. Today is my first day.
I’m just curious, how much money did you all make in your first year? And what type of truck driving did you do? (OTR, local, etc etc)
Also, any advice? Like what’s something you all wished you would’ve known before you started driving or in your first year or two of driving?
snownight77@reddit
58k my first year 5 years ago. Made 105k last year running LTL Line-Haul
bicyclewhoa17@reddit
Go work the dock at an ltl terminal near you. Get all your endorsements and then jump on an opening. Try to find the biggest terminal of all the ltls near you - where there will be the most opportunities. You’ll make more working the dock at these places than you would driving for a mega. Just an idea
Outrageous-Trip-7376@reddit
So Working the dock is loading and unloading trailers ?
bicyclewhoa17@reddit
Yes, with a forklift, generally. I am in the northeast and I believe those guys are making 28 or 29 an hour right now. You will have to start evenings, I bet.
LongjumpingCat6642@reddit
$1500/wk+, so atleast 75k. Regional, home weekends. TMC
acs0311@reddit
My 1st year was 2000. I was pulling a dry van for a company out of Jacksonville FL. I made 40K that year.
AgreeableClass5390@reddit (OP)
How much do you make now, if you don’t mind me asking?
acs0311@reddit
Currently I’m comfortably into the six figures, but I’m heavy haul over the road. Advice, ask questions and listen. It’s easier to fix mistakes or miscalculations going slow than rushing.
Baconated-Coffee@reddit
My first year I made 45k, my last year OTR was 78k but I was home weekends and got some 10 hour breaks at the house, last year with my current non-trucking CDL job I made 94k and averaged 46 hours per week.
pardipp@reddit
what’s the non trucking CDL job, i’m making barely $1800 a week before taxes and need to bump my pay up. been trucking for years and see no growth
Baconated-Coffee@reddit
Crane operator, I'm currently in an apprenticeship through IUOE. I still drive a truck, counterweight and rigging needs to be hauled to the job site behind the crane. Truck driving itself is less than 10% of the job.
IndexFingerTypist@reddit
52k, 47k take home. Prime flatbed home weekends first year. I actually made less my second year because I was out so often. I'm surprised I wasn't fired.
dank_memes_911@reddit
$72k my first year at 21, but I work for a tanker company that doesn’t hire fresh out of school anymore.
Ninja-Storyteller@reddit
66k OTR Team Driving during my first year.
I wish I would've known truckers work 70 hours a week instead of 40! :P
Smoke-A-Beer@reddit
80k cdn. Oil and gas jack and roll crew. Was a labour job tacked on.
tidyshark12@reddit
103k first year, started in April. 104k second year, had about a month off between jobs. 134k last year.
Team driving first and 3rd year, solo day cab second year except January and Feb
FossMan21@reddit
Local guy. Made 88k after taxes last year
Marmatus@reddit
I made $56k my first year, iirc. Local, just doing 40hr weeks. This year I should be around $66k-$67k with the same company (since mid-2023).
J_cam202@reddit
I’ve always been a local driver. 4th year in. First 3.5 years driving tractor trailers. Now I’m driving Class B Hazmat/tanker trucks.
I grossed 55k first year. Second year 65k. 3rd year 67k. This year I’m on track to making over 80K and the company issues out profit sharing into a retirement account which is 15-20% of my gross in come. So that will probably be at least another 10K. Hoping to break over 100K in the next couple of years.
Guys that have been here over 20 years have over a million bucks in that retirement account and they haven’t contributed a single dollar to it. All the money has come from the company. If they would have contributed towards it they’d probably be sitting on 2+ million by 57-60 years old.
Longway23544@reddit
48k
THExPILLOx@reddit
42,000 on paper. 53ish in reality. Otr.
Check your area, I live in a freight desert so I didn't have a lot of choices. If you live in a city or near industry. Definitely expedite out of dry van asap.
AgreeableClass5390@reddit (OP)
How much do you make now, if you don’t mind me asking?
THExPILLOx@reddit
Depends, generally between 75 and 85 depending on how many 4 day weeks I get compared to 5 day weeks lol
CashWideCock@reddit
Around $500 a week take home, but that was back in 1994.
AgreeableClass5390@reddit (OP)
How much do you make now if you don’t mind me asking? Also, any advice for a rookie still in CDL school?
InflationBest3950@reddit
Well im making 26 an hour + a few hours OT here in socal as a class b driver (manual labor included). It's my first CDL job so idk if thats good or not.
Fluxus4@reddit
Be aggressive while in school about contacting potential employers. Your school will probably have a bulletin board filled with companies looking to hire graduates. Research every one and contact those that interest you. By the time you finish up school in a month, you should have 2-3 leading candidates.
Be wary of local mom and pop operations. They'll lack the resources to properly train you and may operate unsafe equipment as a cost saving measure. Megas play it safe but may offer less money.